Closure fastener



Patented Feb. 22, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,618,353 PArENT' oFFi-iciE;

JOHN A. man, F CLEVELAND, oHIo, AssIG oR, BY DIRECT AND MEsNE AssIGN- MEN'rs, OF rwo-rrr'rns T0 JOSEPH. ran-E, rwo-rir'rrrs To MAX B. 'soLo oN, i AND ONE-FIFTH o J H H GESINQALL' or CLEVELAND, onro.

' "cnosunn rAsTnNnR.

Application fiIe'd Ap=ri1 18, 1925. Serial No. 24,211.

My invention is an improvement in closure fasteners, and more particularly adapted for use in connection with garage doors and the like. r 1 5 An important object of my invention is to provide a closure fastener which may be used on. either right or left swing closures and which may be quickly and easily 111- stalled thereon. V

Another object of my invention is to provide a deviceot the above'namedcharacteiv which is extremely HIGXPGHSIYG to ananufamsimple of construction and.

ture and which is operation. 7

- Another object of my: invention is: to. provide a device of the above named vcharacter which provides: a -positive lock for-the closure when it is desired to secure the same in open 'position, et which may be-. qumkl'y unlocked by bolt. 7 y r V Other objects and advantages of. my invention will become apparent from thfllfOllowing descriptiomweference' being made to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this iapplication and in which lilrenum'e-rals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same.

In the drawings applied to a garage door,::preferably on the center panelof the door or about nrrdway of thedoor length, c. I

Fig. '2 is a planviewof theilockingdevice bod Fig. 3 is afrontview of the same, 7 Fig; 4 is afron-tyiew of the l'oickmg: bolt, Fig: 5 is a pl an View of the tension'means, Fig.6 "is a sidevi'ew ofthe same,

Fig. 7 is aperspectiveview of the: bracket, and

Fig. 8 isxan-enlarged detail of one end of the: locking device. Inr the drawings,.' 5 designates a a door r frame towvh-ich I .have'show-naa bearing bracket '6'. attached by means ofse-rews: 7.

The bracket preferably consists ot a single pieeelof metalz6-whichi may be stamp-edv out of sheetand which is; punched or drilled out-sat Sand 9 to form bearing openings. The bracket is bent: to the shape.- shown in Fig. 7, so that the OpeningsSwand 9 are in vertical alignment. Screw. holes 10 are :provided for-the supportingfscrews? re easing the tension. on the Fig. 1' is an elevation: showing: my device v The fastener or locking device consists of a main body portion and a tensioned bolt adapted tOjbB1SllPPOIt8d' from. the bracket and to engage a slot in the fEIStGIIBI' bOd'y as 1 will be:.more,.fully described.

The body portion 11 is preferably formed as shown in. Figs. 1,. 2 and 3,. and consists of a substantially vertical wall 12 which is provided. with screw holes 1 13: for securing the device to the closure. An aperfured spring 14' is placed over oneoftlie openings- 13i-s0 that the screw 15 will pass through the openings inthespring and vertical wall and into the closure body.

Thefbody portion 11' ispretenably formed? ofha: single; piece of metal stamped andv bent to thexfornr shownhi n thedrawing, but itis:

to be understood" that I. may manufacture the body portion in-va-riousshapes andsizes according to: the use to which they are tobe Each end of theusl'ot cornmu nicates' with anioipiemtng- 18' in the walli'toform a seat for the bolt. It Willi be" notedi'that the openings 18-1are defined by walls slightly more: than semi-circular in shape. That is, if an imaginary line 19, Fig; 8 ,were' drawnat right'angles downwardlyfrom theedge of thewal l at 20', would intersect the wall of the open ing both at. 20- and 21,:forining the segment- 23 on the 'chord 19. It will be seen' thenthat. each: orthe. openings; 18- forms a-seat forone end of the-bolt 24==Whichslidfesq in the slot 17, the walls of: the openings or sockets d'escribing .arcsof more than 180; The seg-.

ment indicated at 23 provides a socketwhere by the bolt-end may be retained'within the socket against. accidental displacementwhich mi-ghtaotherwise be' caused by sudden applications. of. forces to the closure;

. The boltconsi'sts-oif amain :bod y25 which has its. ends 2e and .26 bent ddwnwardily,.tl1e end 26 being? adapted to seat within either of the openings 18:..accordi-ng to. :whether the device is used on a left or right moving closure. The other end 25% of the bolt is adapted to pass through the openings 8 and 9 in the bracket where it is hingedly supported, the openings being just large enough to take the bolt end and to permit free movement of the same therein.

Referring again to the spring 14, it will be noted that it consists preferably of a substantially flat strip of spring steel, which is apertured near one end while the main body portion is bent outwardly as at 27. Although, it desired the spring may take various shapes and may consist of any resilient material.

The device is completely closure, as, for instance a garage door, as shown in the drawings. As the door is opened, the end Sill oi the bolt slides along the slot from a point near the midway point thereof when it comes into contact with the spring 14. .As the bolt end nears the seat 18, the maximum tension of the spring will be exerted and when the door has reached the end of its swing, the bolt end 26 will be forced into the seat 18 by the spring and normally held there under considerable tension. It will be noted that the door is held rigidly in this open position and may only assembled to the be closed by releasing the tension and unseating the bolt end from its seat 18. The door may therefore be left in open position without danger of being blown shut by the wind. 1

After the doors have been set to the desired open position and it is desired to swing the doors to an extended open position, this may be accomplished by merely removing the bolt ends Q iand 26 from the bracket 6 and locking device 11, respectively, and then swinging the door to its full open position.

Then it is desired to close the door, the operator may exertpressure against the bolt end 26 and the tension of spring 14 until the endQG is unscated. Then the door may be closed, and the several. parts are restored to their original positions. \Vhile the, bolt is thus being pressed toward the door against the spring tension by one hand of the operator, the door is started on itsclosing swing. During the swing the bolt end 26. travels within the slot 17 toward the other end of the body 11 and as the swing progrcsscsgthe bolt is gradually relieved of the spring tension due to the bent end of the spring moving out of contact with the bolt. It will be seen, when the bolt end 26 is seated within one of the opcnings 18 under tension of the spring 14, that the door is securely held in open position, since the bolt end cannot become unseated from the opening until pressure is applied to it against the tension of the spring. It will also befseen that although the spring 1st will prevent displacement of the bolt end from its seat, such displacement is further prevented due to the peculiar shape of the seat and its remote position with respect to the closure. By arranging the slots or seats 18 so that they extend away from the closure wall I have provided for suliicient leverage whereby the bolt cud cannot be displaced iron'i its seat, when seated, even though the spring ii is out of the path oi the mouth of the scat except by applying manual pressure against the bolt end toward the closure. In this connection it is to be noted that I provide the openings 18 of such shape as to help maintain the bolt end within its scat even though the tension oi. the spring iI1:iyl.)e materially rcthu'cd. lh1s is accomplished by n'ovlding an open inc, substantially circular in shape but slightly 1norcthan sen'iiscircular in di1nensions so that when the bolt end seated therein it will be securely held under tension of the sprin n I find in practice when the bolt is seated in one of the openings and the door is open, that it is in'lpossible to close the door without first exerting an inward pressure againstthcbolt end 26. and the spring 14, to unseat the bolt. After the bolt is unscated, the door is easily closed and the bolt cud slides within the slot in the member 11 close to the other end there:

of. It is to be noted that the top of the member 11 presents a smooth plane surface and offers no obstruction to the passing of the bolt when the door is openedor closed.

An important feature of my invention resides in the reversibility of the device. lVhen it 1s desired to install the dcvlce upon a left hand side of a door or other closure,

as shown in Fig. 1, the installation is made as shown, with the bracket on the let't hand side of the door frame and the spring on lending toward the left.

lVhen. it is desired to install the device upon the right hand side oi. a door frame, it is only necessary to mount the bracket on the right hand side of the frame and to turn the spring 1.4-. so that its bent up end points towards the right as shown in dotted lines in Fig.1. The belt is assembled in the bracket (3 and slot 17 and its end 526 seats in the opening 18 in the right hand end of the member 11 when the door is opened. Thus it will be seen that the device may be applied to either the right or left, hand side of a closure frame. It is to be understood also that the device may bevapplied to closures which swing or rotate on an axis other than that in a vertical plane.

It will be seen that due to the extreme simplicity of the device, ease of operation and small number of working parts, I have provided a device which is very inexpensive to manufacture. i i

It is to be noted that I have provided means for securing a closure in an open llU position exceeding 90, if desired, so that the closure may be secured out of the path of the opening in the closure frame. This may be accomplished by predetermined positioning of the bracket or body 11, upon the closure, as for instance, the shorter the distance between the hinged end of the closure and the nearest end of the bracket 11, the greater will be the are thru which the closure may swing and be locked in open position. V Y

Various changes in the size, shape and construction and operation of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the subjoined claims. Y

I claim 1. A closure fastener comprisinga rigid member having a slot engaging portion at one end, a bracket fixed to a support and pivotally connected'to the said rigid member, and a second bracket carried by another supporting member and having an elongatone end, a bracket fixed toa support and pivotally connected to the said rigid member, and a second bracket carried by a 010- sure and having an elongated slot for-slidably receiving the said slot engaging portion of the said member, the said slot hav ing at one end a. portion extended laterally away from the closure and adapted to retain the rigid member therein. 7

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 15th day of April, 1925'.

JOHN A. RICE. 

